Saskatoon Blades' Nick Zajac goes after Calgary's Joey Kornelson during Wednesday's Western Hockey League tilt in the Saskatchewan City. The Hitmen offence went cold in a 4-1 defeat.

Photograph by: Richard Marjan, Postmedia News, Calgary Herald

Saskatoon 4

Calgary 1

An anemic offensive effort by the Calgary Hitmen led to a 4-1 loss on Wednesday night to the host Saskatoon Blades.

Darren Dietz and Matej Stransky scored in the first period, Josh Nicholls potted another in the second while Lukas Sutter connected in the third to lift the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup hosts to 10-5-0-1 while they remain undefeated (7-0) at Saskatoon's Credit Union Centre.

Calgary was faced with ample scoring opportunities but ran into some bad luck, especially in the second period in which they hit a couple of posts and a crossbar.

On one particular scenario, Rob Trzonkowski and Joey Kornelsen were denied by Blades goalie Andrey Markarov, who was named to Team Russia for the 2011 Subway Super Series games.

On the other end, Hitmen goaltender Chris Driedger was tagged with the loss.

Chase Clayton scored the Calgary's lone goal, his first tally of the season.

Calgary, in the middle of a six-game road trip, will now carry on to Brandon, Man., to face the Wheat Kings on Friday night.

Heading into Saskatoon, the Hitmen (6-7-0-1) had won their past two games, including Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Prince Albert Raiders.

After Friday, they'll play Regina (Nov. 5), Moose Jaw (Nov. 6), and Swift Current (Nov. 8) before returning to the Scotiabank Saddledome on Nov. 11 to host the Seattle Thunderbirds (7 p.m.).